The birth of Art All Night - Trenton

Growing up I was never truly exposed to art or culture. To me, art was a poor excuse for graffiti sprayed on broken concrete walls that ran along the embankment of the Delaware River. Culture was seeing the homeless drink themselves into oblivion along the rail line that ran through my neighborhood (now Route 129). I truly had no concept of art or culture until I grew older and started to explore the world on my own. Once I started down that road, it began a lifetime love affair with other folks' creative works.


In 2007 a friend of mine approached me with an idea. It was daring. It was lofty and most importantly, it was exciting. This friend wanted to create a 24-hour art show that showcased local musicians, neighborhood eateries that offered exciting cuisine and a setting for artists of all ages, backgrounds and education to display their art in a gallery-style setting... all the while promoting the unused, abandoned structures in the City of Trenton. It sounded crazy, to be honest. I wasn't sold but he was passionate about it and so I decided to throw caution to the wind and I stepped on board. Art All Night - Trenton was born.


Now, something most people may not realize, is that professional graphic designers (most creative professionals actually) are approached constantly to donate their time and talents for the "greater good". It's sometimes a challenge to choose when and where the best avenue is to donate that time and those talents. I've dealt with enough non-profits and upstart businesses to know that you can put forth your grand masterpiece and it still doesn't mean anyone will ever be able to see and appreciate the blood, sweat and tears you've put into the work. I equate it to the ol' saying, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?". The same can be said for an artists work... if you create your pièce de résistance and no one sees it, was it really all that worthwhile? Needless to say, we were undertaking quite an effort and this was a very strong concern of mine.


My first order of business was to create a brand. I worked on several logo designs and nothing seemed to work. Fast forward one week and dozens of design later and we had something I was truly happy with. The idea was to create gallery-quality graphics without being pretentious. To be edgy without being to brash. To design something that would stick out in the crowd and become a noticeable staple in the community. This was the finished product (located below) and it has been the face of Art All Night - Trenton ever since.

The AAN logo actually branded with a new color each year. In an effort to keep things fresh and interesting, I'll choose a generally bright and energetic color to represent AAN in any given year. This, of course, also changes the entire color palette of the event.

This AAN 2010 11"x17" poster was printed in full color and featured prominent images from AAN 2009 along with the creative use of type to list all of the goings on at the event. Notice the paint splatter used in the background, it carries throughout all of the printed pieces including banners and more.

The AAN 2010 5"x8" postcard was printed double-sided and full color. There were two print runs of this postcard featuring different sponsors on each run. 30,000 postcards were printed in total and were distributed throughout the region for two months leading up to the event.

Now, again, if you have yet to attend Art All Night (and I hope, if nothing else, this update peaks your interest enough to attend next year) you truly can't grasp the size of the space. We are talking about 50,000 sq. feet of relatively open warehouse space with dozens of 30 foot steel columns running the length of the main corridor. Needless to say, signage is of the utmost importance. Everything from 20 foot banners promoting sponsors to signs leading attendees to bathrooms and how to purchase a custom Art All Night shirt are required. In all, over 100 signs, posters and banners are needed each year. A massive undertaking needless to say.

This large vertical banner clocks in at 20 feet tall and 5 feet wide. Printed in full color, I decided to utilize an excellent image from AAN 2009 to top off the piece and lead the users eyes downward. Hanging from rafters 30 feet in the air, this banner served as the showcase in the main hallway at Art All Night.

A side view of the outdoor stage banner. This banner printed at 20 feet wide and stands right around 4 feet tall. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a true grasp of how I would hang this banner since the outdoor stage was unavailable until the morning of the event but it turned out well being able to screw it directly into the front of the stage.

I've been working on Art All Night since it's inception in 2007. A lot of folks ask me why I do it pro bono every year and the answer is actually pretty simple... I love it. In many ways I consider it partially my baby. It's truly a labor of love. The way I look at it, if you're going to go the extra mile and donate your time and talents, it should be for something worthwhile and this is about as worthwhile as it gets. Art All Night has helped revive a often dark city that has been in such desperate need of light. It's projected positivity in a town that has been in dire need of it for years. Think of it this way, in 2010 over 10,000 people attended Art All Night. Over 850 artists submitted their work and I'd dare you to walk through the Roebling Wire Works during the event and capture someone who isn't smiling. I dare you.

I am extremely proud of my efforts with Art All Night. Not too long ago I described it to as a friend as the "best thing I've done in my career" and it's true. It's not necessarily the finished work (although seeing your creative work in print never gets old) or seeing your banners hung from the rafters or even seeing someone walk into their local coffee shop and pick up the postcard that you designed and watch them share it with a friend. It's the feeling that comes over people when they attend AAN. It's truly something special and I honestly couldn't be any prouder of my involvement and the involvement of the dozens of people behind the scenes who make this important event happen. If I had a glass in my hand I'd tip my pint... instead I'll just say "thank you" and I am already looking forward to AAN 2011.

For more images of my work featured at AAN 2010, please visit The Rockhopper Creative Facebook Fan Page.